Mass Effect: New Rising (John Shepard Edition)
by gabeluna27
Summary: "It's 2190 in the future. An ancient extinction cycle has been obliterated by the first human spectre and legend of the galaxy. Now he must go after a new enemy mastermind; one who threatens to take over this galaxy. Commander Shepard will need the help of his team of the SSV Normandy SR-2 and from a secret of an undiscovered floral race."
1. The Shepard

**Author's Note:**

_Hello, and welcome to "Mass Effect: New Rising", my fan sequel to the BioWare science-fiction action playing-role video game, "Mass Effect 3". I am a huge fan of the Mass Effect Universe, and now I am here to present you this fanfiction story to continue the storyline for my planed "__Male Shepard's path__"._

_How did I come up with this? "Mass Effect 3" is the final chapter of "Commander Shepard's story", the trilogy's protagonist. There may be no further games or any other official media taking place right after that storyline, because the "Fate of the Galaxy" differs for each final decision on __**how we play all of the three games of the trilogy series**__, as most of the details of the results can be seen and explained in the DLC, "Extended Cut". __The game lacks too many fair elements that I can't even explain in my own words that would be required to create a "fair" canon sequel or anything else taking place after ME3.__ Although there will be more games for the franchise, chances are, they probably will not be set up "right after" the end of the timeline of ME3. In one cinematic result in particular is when you choose the '__destroy__' option, and your __EMS is at a certain high level from the war assets__, Shepard is seen at the end of the cutscene before the credits roll in, taking a deep breath amongst the rubble. BioWare has confirmed that Shepard actually survived in that ending result, but nothing else happens to him/her after that. So I have decided to continue __my (M) Shepard's story__ from there, and the "one more story" will be this fan made true story, before the Stargazer's time just like everything else in the original Mass Effect franchise. __This story will also have content from multiple universes/series__. After thinking to myself over the summer of 2013, "Imagine would it would be like if aliens from different series were together", the idea of this story originated, just when I was getting to know the first game and the franchise itself for the first time by video, before watching the last two games of the trilogy series. Some of the content from the series may just be some bits and pieces from the series imported into the storyline. I am not intending to rewrite the "ME: Universe" with the content. The content in my imagination will just be hidden where ever we players/readers/audiences go or see in the franchise. Some in the "ME: Universe" will know some of the content already before this story, just not mention out loud or physically shown in the game play zones themselves or anywhere else in the official Mass Effect Universe media. Also, I will __not__ modify or alternate anything that is original in the three games such as Tali's photo/face (an alternated stock photo shot by Matthew Leete) or Mass Effect 3's final moment(s)/ending(s); because I don't care what BioWare or any other official publishers give us, even if their products/content are heavily criticized. I don't show or feel a concept of antagonistic hatred, sarcasm, criticizing, gossiping or demanding against official publishers/developers/etc. as one would think, but a concept of polite and genuine comprehension on what they gave to us in the series and why. I follow and understand what BioWare's official attentions were when it comes to making the trilogy's pilot without any harm or betrayal. A creative, hard studying/examining, and understanding mind and heart is what helped me understand the trilogy's gameplay proposes, developer intentions (such as asking us what we want, etc), third game's final decision(s) intentions, etc. Which means, to me, the MEHEM, Indoctrination Theory (twisted logic), Marauder Shields meme, and the demand of Mass Effect "4" do not make sense to the official story's atmosphere and purpose from what I see, feel and understand. I can't even explain all of this in my own words. I love "Mass Effect", and I always will no matter what kind of responses it receives from others._

_Here is a list of all the universes/series I'm mixing my story with:_

_(1)__** Mass Effect**__ (2) __**Sonic the Hedgehog**__ (3) __**AVP **__'Alien' vs 'Predator' (4) __**Dune**__ (5) __**Darwin IV**__ (6) __**War of the Worlds**__ '2005' (7) __**Avatar **__(8) __**Buzz Lightyear **__(9) __**Evolution **__'2001' __(10)__** Zathura **__(11) __**Doctor Who**__ (12) __**Star Trek**__ (13) __**Stargate **__(14)__** Star Wars**__ (15) __**Apollo 18**__ (16) __**Cowboys & Aliens**__ (17) __**Enemy Mine **__(18) __**Close Encounters of the Third Kind**__ (19) __**Lost Planet**__ (20) __**Independence Day**__ (21) __**Riddick**__ (22) __**Extraterrestrial **__'Nat Geo' (23) __**Lilo and Stitch**__ (24) __**Dark Star **__(25) __**Super 8**__ (26) __**Men in Black **__(27) __**Battleship **__(28) __**Outlander**__(29)__** Europa Report **__(30)__** Into the Universe **(31)** Lost Tapes **__'ANPL' _(32)_ **Halo **(33) **Earth to Echo**  
_

_One last note: "__**No copyright infringement intended during the making of this non-profit fan novel**__" The owners of all of the above universes/series and online user __supporters/idea references__ will be credited at the second to last chapter of this story. Just sit back, and enjoy reading this Mass Effect fan made sequel to __my planned male Shepard's story__._

_**(gabeluna27)**_

* * *

**Episode 1:**

**The Shepard**

"_**Year 2009, Earth time…"**_

_Stars_, billions of stars flickering in the bright skies of the _Milky Way Galaxy_; a massive barred spiral world under a continuous extinction cycle of advanced space-faring organic races being converted into synthetic-organic ships, known as the _Reapers_. They were designed by an artificial intelligence created by an apex race called the _Leviathans_ billions of years ago, when the Earth was still young. With that, the first reaper gave rise by the essence of the leviathans and entire Reaper race was born. Previously, the Reapers have harvested the most notable ancient galaxy-wide spread empire 50,000 years ago, the _Protheans_. Now the remains of that empire are their artifacts, ruins and technology, in which in one day will give humankind their biggest leap in space-faring history that is '_Mass Effect_'.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

In the Milky Way, stars glitter across every direction of the galaxy. Flares erupt from the surface of a nearby solar analog star. Interstellar clouds called nebulas fuse together ionized gases to generate new stars. An icy comet passes by a sun-like star as it displays a visible dust trail. In an asteroid belt, a large asteroid crashes on to another causing both of them to become smaller space chunks. A ring of small cosmic rocks and ice particles orbit a Saturn-like gas giant. A nearby black hole absorbs all of the light and gravity around it's horizon with no way of escaping it.

But this galaxy has much more than there is to it.

Among the stars of an uncharted sector of the galaxy, is an interstellar space colony, cruising through empty space. It belongs to a dying race that has been driven into exile when their planet was attacked by a hostile race and their homeworld's heart, the _planet egg_, has been purged by a cyborg race of machines which call themselves, _Metarex_.

No sooner enough, guided missiles blow up the upper hull of the ship.*KABOOSHM!* An enormous golden armored crustacean shaped-like ship comes to closer range to the colony. A Metarex warship is attacking! The interstellar colony suffers high catastrophic damage from the ship's rockets. A small tail of white light flares out of the colony's hanger launching to the planet Mobius, the homeworld of the anthropomorphic animals, aka: the _Mobians_. The light is actually a small escape pod. One of the colonists has escaped the destruction of the space colony.

As the Metarex continues to bombard the colony to total destruction, another colonist barely escapes into another vessel, and launches out of the nearly ravaged hanger. The pod however, is severely damaged.

Moments later, it shoots straight to a giant interstellar transit devise at full speed.

It is a _Mass Relay_, built by the Reapers for galactic civilizations to accelerate across the galaxy, shortening the time between the harvests. As the vessel gets closer, it transits an amount of mass energy into the devise's approach corridor. Suddenly, the escape pod is propelled across space with tremendous force, bringing its location to another relay thousands of light years away. *TISUUUM!*

Now in a different location of the galaxy, the vessel continues to spring straight forward. It hits and shatters a small piece of space junk, and loses control. _*BANG-KIRACK!*_ The colonist inside is out cold by the impact. After several violent seconds, it enters the thin atmosphere of an uncharted moon of a Jupiter-like gas giant. *SHABOOM!* The vessel takes impact on the moon's surface, cratering itself deep into a geothermal tunnel system. Eventually, its power dies off and everything becomes silent and calm.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

"_**One hundred and sixty-seven earth years later…"**_

In the year 2186, the Reapers have returned to the galaxy to harvest the civilizations of humanity and every other advanced organic race in this cycle. But ultimately, they and their _synthetic-organic creatures (husks)_ were destroyed by a superweapon that was planned millions of years before, now finished to end the harvest of all organic life once and for all. It was called, the _Crucible_. The cycle has come to an end, thanks to one particular human soldier, spectre, hero, and legend of the Milky Way Galaxy. That human's name is no other than, _Commander 'John' Shepard_.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

In the ruins of the _Citadel_ station and the Crucible, lies the seemingly lifeless body of the commander who activated the Crucible. Few moments later, his consciousness returns with a deep breath.

_*Breath… Cough!*_ Shepard slowly lifts his sore head off the ground. _*Cough!*_ He coughs amongst his wheezing. His body was numb and stings in pain at the same time. Shepard places his head back down.

Exhausted, injured, burned and weaken from a Reaper's surprise attack and the explosion of the Crucible, Shepard's weak eyes that are barley open fill up with a bright intense light, not being able to fully see what is left of the _Citadel _that surrounds him, orbiting just above the Earth. He and his friend, _David Anderson_ made it to the station at the same time _Harbinger_, the overlord of the Reapers, and the first Reaper ever created by the leviathans' essence, attacked them. Anderson made it to the station's conduit first, but Shepard was blasted by one of Harbinger's beams. But remarkably, Shepard survived. Unfortunately, he suffered from a combination shock and blood loss shortly after his confrontation with an indoctrinated human secretive known as the _Illusive Man_. The _Catalyst_, the intelligence the leviathans built and Reapers' source of their harvesting purpose, picked up Shepard and slowly recovered his body from his loss of blood. But it didn't heal his body entirely, but just enough to keep him alive and to allow the commander to trigger the Crucible and end its purpose to preserve life on that very hour.

When the intelligence studied Shepard while healing his nearly dead body, it chose to represent itself as a transparent form of a young boy Shepard saw get killed while he was escaping Vancouver and the Earth on the SSV Normandy SR-2 starship, almost as if he was looking at a ghost or a god of the child. But now, the intelligence is no more since the blast of the Crucible not only destroyed the Reapers and their husks, but to every synthetic life form in the galaxy. The Catalyst was one of those AIs to perish from this destruction event.

About forty-six seconds after Shepard regains his consciousness, he could barely make out the rumbling sound of an Alliance shuttle's engine just above him. It lands in a secured location of the citadel ruins the artificial atmosphere surrounds. A rescue team of five is dispatched from their drop point, along with a tamed black and white colored _varren _before the shuttle takes off back into the sky. The varren scouts ahead of its owner's team, prowling the vicinity like a rescue dog. It smells a stench that only the tamed alien hound can smell, coming from Shepard's location. It lets out a grumbling bark, attracting the rescue team's attention. The varren runs forward, following the commander's fresh blood scent, with the team proceeding on its tail and passing by one of the citadel's _mysterious keepers_ which is dragging a bloodied human corps along the ground.

"Squad 6, follow the varren! Looks like _Scorcher_ is really on to something today." says the commando of the team.

Shepard is too unaware to notice his wounds are starting to bleed again. His blood loss has returned. The partially sealed wounds on his body the Catalyst has healed have opened again by the heat and flames of the Crucible's explosion. Shepard, losing a lot of blood, starts to have very light breaths by every second and his eyes are shut firmly and unable to reopen them. _Scorcher_, the tamed varren was just right next to him to his left. It lets out a loud wail and its owner's team arrives to see what it has found.

"We've got a live one here! Repeat, we've got a live one!" exclaims the commando. After fighting their way through the uneven rubble, the rescue squad swoops just in time to treat the dying commander. But Shepard is just moments before fully succumbing to his shock.

"Good boy." the Alliance commando said to Scorcher, as he kneels down with an omni-tool and starts sealing Shepard's wounds with medi-gel. But it suddenly runs out after two in a halve seconds since it was used for more than one wounded survivor they found.

"Damn it!" the commando cursed in frustration, banging his omni-tool at the same time.

"Tyler. Medi-gel isn't going to be enough. We need to use something else." One of the soldiers says to the commando.

"No time! Get him out of this goddamn mess, _now_!" Tyler shouts back. The team helps the dying commander out of the rubble to safety. Shepard tries to hold back his groans and yelps of pain and bears his teeth as the rescue squad excavates him out of his spot.

A female vanguard reaches her right hand to the loosened N7 dog tag on the commander's chest and soon enough finds out who this man is.

"_Oh my god…"_ the vanguard whispered to herself. "It's _Commander Shepard_!" she exclaims.

"No way!" A male Alliance soldier says in reply and shock.

The commando immediately contacts _Steven Hackett_. "Admiral Hackett, this is Lt. Tyler with the Logan Evacuation Squad no. 6. We have just found Commander Shepard and he is alive! Repeat, Shepard is alive but he is in need of critical medical treatment! We need an immediate med-evacuation ASAP!"

At the same time Tyler contacts Admiral Hackett, Shepard's vision opens up again in his sickly, blurry eyes, and catches a glimpse of a dark figure of a right hand of the female vanguard reaching out for him, just before his consciousness dims all the way into darkness.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

_*Dream flashback*_

_In 2183, Commander Shepard was a soldier of the Systems Alliance N7 Special Forces. He was born on Earth in 2154, but was orphaned as an infant and raised on the streets, learned to look after himself. Sometime after he joined the Alliance at eighteen, his unit was slaughtered by a thresher maw on the planet, Akuze. Afterwards, he was assigned on the SSV Normandy as an 'Executive Officer'. After finding a Prothean beacon on Eden Prime, his quest has changed into stopping a rouge indoctrinated turian spectre named Saren Arterius. Shepard becomes the first human spectre by the Citadel Council and the captain of the SSV Normandy. Saren's geth forces attacked the Citadel along with the Reaper vanguard, Sovereign. Commander Shepard defeats both adversaries and becomes the hero of the Citadel. He knows the Reapers will return to the galaxy one day, and goes out to find a way to stop them._

_A month later, the Normandy was ambushed by an unidentified cruiser and Shepard's pressure seals in his suit become compromised in the process, suffocating himself to his death in outer space. Two years after, Shepard was revived synthetically and organically by the Lazarus Project, led by the pro-human survivalist and terrorist organization, 'Cerberus'. Shepard soon uses the help of Cerberus as well as some old and new friends to stop a greater threat towards humanity: the Collectors (Genetic altered mutated descendants of the Protheans repurposed and enslaved by the Reapers). He quickly becomes the captain of the newly Normandy SR-2 (a successor ship to the SR-1) as well as falling in love with a young quarian named Tali'Zorah, an old friend who has traveled with him to stop Saren two years ago. The mission of stopping the collectors and saving humanity was a success. The Collector base, located at the galactic core was destroyed, and Cerberus got a higher reputation of protecting mankind across the galaxy. Everyone during that suicide mission (including the personnel of the SR-2) has survived. Soon afterwards, Shepard destroys the Bahak system of Batarian space to prevent the Reapers from using a short cut to the galaxy, but is placed under arrest by the Alliance to be tried._

_Six month later, the Reapers have finally returned to the galaxy, starting their harvest of all advanced spacefaring organic life. Shepard escapes on the Alliance improved SSV Normandy SR-2, but spots a young boy he couldn't save when he had the chance earlier escaping on a shuttle and vaporized by a reaper destroyer. Shepard starts to have continuous vivid nightmares about losing the kid in flames that haunts his dreams, guilty of himself for not saving a life of the next generation. Traveling across the galaxy and gathering up war assets from the other races against the Reapers, Commander Shepard finds a live Prothean under stasis quarantine (Javik), cures the Genophage on Tuchunka, makes a truce between the Quarians and the Geth, duels with a xenophobic clone of himself on the Normandy above the Citadel, retake the station 'Omega' from General Petrovsky (whom which Shepard decides to let go and to join the Alliance), discover the intelligence's creators (the Leviathans and their progeny), encounter many Cerberus operatives who seek to control the Reapers, and much more during his travels. With the Cerberus base shut down, the idea of Cerberus continues on by the Illusive Man, and the final assault of the galaxy takes place at the sol system to retake the Earth, and to save the Milky Way. Harbinger, the mastermind of the Reapers arrives to Earth in what is left of London. Shepard's team mates, Tali and Garrus become injured when the six eyed Reaper attacks during their final push to the conduit. Shepard says what would be his last goodbye to his girlfriend before forcing both her and Garrus to retreat back to the safety of Normandy, and before Harbinger mortally wounds the commander. Shepard reaches the Citadel's conduit and is confronted by the Illusive Man. He kills the indoctrinated Cerberus leader by shooting him in the stomach as the Illusive Man starts to charge at the commander, claiming that he (the Illusive Man) is the pinnacle of Humanity. After the Crucible docks in the center of the station, Shepard is found by the Catalyst and reveals the Reapers' purpose of their harvests. Out of all the three options it gives out to Shepard to end its purpose (Destroy, Control and Synthesis), the commander chooses to destroy the Reapers once and for all. He believed destroying the Reapers was the only way to save the galaxy. With that, Shepard shoots a key energy tube for the Crucible to fire a wave of negative energy to all synthetic beings in the galaxy. He is caught by the explosion and everything goes from black to white in his vision!_

_*End of dream flashback…*_

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

_*Gasps!* _Shepard flicks his blue eyes wide open in a flash, gasping at the exact time, waking up from his dream of his past flashbacks. His panting settles down and a bright light blurs his eyes. His vision quickly becomes clear for him to see. He finds himself resting on his backside in a cot, in a patient room of an Alliance hospital, and most of all, he is somehow _still alive_. His head and back were rested on a pillow with half of the cot levitated a little and the covers over his feet to his waist. Shepard is no longer in his disrupted N7 military uniform, but in a light blue hospital gown, with a set of bandages patched over both of his arms and on his head. His burns are healed, but he still has several bruises and prickles of soreness around his body. The last thing he remembers was regaining consciousness before his intense dreaming of his past events, but he was simply too weak to wake up all the way. When he tried, darkness just closed in on him before he can get a clear sense on what is going on around him. He also remembers while he tried waking up, he was in terrible condition, such as feeling a tube blocking his throat, unable to inhale regularly, being in a lightheaded state, etc. Now, he woke up as if he was

To his right, he spots a small table with a terminal on top of it. The visible words were scrolling upwards, and when he squints his eyes, Shepard can see those words are actually _'get well'_ notes signed by many of his friends he knew. Next to the terminal to the right is one of his N7 helmets with a couple flower bunches from an undisturbed patch on Earth in front of it, to honor his unknown but heroic actions of stopping the Reaper threat.

After scanning his right side direction and himself, Shepard hears some snoring coming from his other left side. Someone is sleeping next to him. He turns his head to his left, and there, sitting on a chair with the arms placed on the safety rail and the head resting before them is a female _quarian_. This is _Tali'Zorah vas Normandy Nar Rayya_, one of Shepard's team mates as well as his beloved girlfriend. Smiling slightly, he puts both of his hands on top of Tali's.

"Hey." Shepard quietly speaks to her at the same time he realizes his throat lacked moisture, but he didn't care, now that he sees his lover sleeping right next to him. The young quarian wakes up in confusion. Behind her mask, Tali can see her injured human boyfriend, wide awake, looking at her eye to eye. Her face widens in surprise.

"SHEPARD!" Tali exclaims in great astonishment. She immediately leaps out of her seat with her arms extended and locks them around Shepard, hugging him.

"Ahgh!" Shepard grunts in pain the second he is grasped by Tali. But despite the pain, he hugs his quarian girlfriend back.

"I thought I had lost you again!" she spoke through her crying of joy.

"I am never lost without you." Shepard replied back to her.

Tali looks right into his eyes and speaks, "Oh keelah, Shepard... _*Sniff*_ You came back for me!" she cried.

The commander gently squeezed her right hand saying: "I came back because of you." Shepard takes a long pause before speaking again. "From Hell and there... you made everything worth it." He places his right hand on Tali's helmet. "You brought me peace, joy, and love, more than anyone else I ever met in my life. I survived because of you."

Tali's bioluminescent eyes well up with tears. She removes her mask with a light hiss of air escaping from it,*hiss*, and placed it beside Shepard's left. "I-I love you… Shepard." She managed to croak out at the same time more glittering tears drop from her eyes, down to her cheeks of her pale lavender human-like face.

Tali leans forward and presses her lips onto Shepard's giving him a long and slow passionate kiss while both of their hands held and caressed each other's faces. "Mmmhh" She lets out a soft, faint moan during this tender moment. Tali pulls away from Shepard's lips eleven seconds later and stares back into his blue eyes.

"I love you to, Tali'Zorah vas Normandy." Shepard replies to her, smiling.

Soon enough, the doorway slips open and walking inside the room is an ex-Cerberus officer, _Miranda Lawson_, as well as a former C-Sec turian officer, _Garrus Vakarian_.

"Shepard! You're awake." Garrus said with enthusiasm in his voice.

Shepard soon becomes exited. "Garrus, Miranda!" He is surprised to see the two recognizable faces of his two friends walking in the room and he tries to position himself to sit up. But as he does so, a sharp pain runs through his lumbar vertebrae. "Ow!" Shepard yells out, holding his spine and collapses back against the pillow, *Thump!*.

Miranda walks over to Shepard, next to Tali. "Try not to get so eager with yourself, Commander. You're still in bad condition." she informed him.

Shepard groans and looks over at Garrus who moved to his right side of the bed. "Where am I?" Shepard asked.

"You are in the med-bay of the _SSV Logan_; _flagship of the Third Fleet_." Garrus answers.

"You were very lucky the _Sixth Rescue Squad_ found you somewhere on the Citadel eighteen days ago. You were pretty ripped up when they retrieved you." Miranda spoke after Garrus.

Shepard smiles and replies to her, "I might have to owe you for bringing me back twice then. Huh?" Miranda giggles at his comment.

When the Sixth Logan Rescue team recovered Shepard from the Heart of the Citadel, he was brought back to Earth to a hospital that was still in good shape in New York for better medical treatment. A week and a half later when the better doctors arrived at the Sol system, he was transferred back to the SSV Logan just four days earlier from this current day for his final stage of recovery from his wounds, infections, and his comatose state. The rest of Shepard's teammates of the Normandy remained back on Earth in New York to help with any survivors they could find and assist in what rebuilding they could. The Logan now is just at Earth's orbit, and it will stay there until the mass relay network is beginning to come back online.

Normally, the destruction of a mass relay destroys an entire solar system. But the crucible's destructive wave changed that. Instead of completely destroying them to devastate the star systems, the mass relays were severely damaged just like the Citadel. But eventually, as time passes, they will all be repaired; minus both the _Omega 4 relay_ which was deemed too dangerous and the _Alpha Relay_ of Batarian Space that was sacrificed to delay the Reaper's arrival. The exact true science of the Crucible's energy is unknown to everyone in the galaxy because it was the first and only time in millions of years and to infinity into the future of the universe to be fully constructed. But the galaxy would have lost without it if it weren't for Shepard's heroism.

Shepard's head turns to Garrus. "Did we…?" he asked.

"We did it, Shepard. It's all over." the scarred face turian replied. "Unfortunately, we lost _EDI_ in the process. Much to Joker's misery." he continued with concern in his voice for the pain of one of their friends, _Joker_. Some who stayed in the SSV Normandy tried to salvage any possibilities of the ship's AI, EDI. So far, there has been no success, but they and Miranda keep trying their best.

"Yes. Even the Geth died off along with them." said Tali. "Now my people are gonna debate on bringing them (the Geth) back."

Shepard hesitates with realization. He positioned his head slowly to look straight up at the ceiling, away from the overhead light. "Shepard?" Tali spoke.

"I did this." Shepard said sorrowfully.

"What are you talking about?" Tali asked to her recovered boyfriend.

Shepard pauses again for several seconds, with tension in his face. "It was a decision." he started again, still looking straight up at the ceiling. "I had to choose. But I knew what I'd choose would also screw both the Geth and… _her_." Shepard takes another breath, letting go of his tension before he continues his statement. "Every synthetic lost." he finished explaining.

"You shouldn't blame yourself for what you did, Shepard. You did what was definitely the right thing. It may have been your fault, maybe, but you did what needed to be done, like always." Garrus soothes to the commander as he places his left hand on his shoulder. And the turian was right, because what Shepard does is not only just take orders from his allies, but he also follows his heart like a warrior doing what is truly necessary, just like when he escape from the Citadel to find and stop Saren three years ago, and temporarily allied himself with Cerberus to eliminate the Collector threat six months prior to the Reaper War. Shepard though doesn't want to admit it. Friends and other innocent lives of any race die all around him, and all that does is multiply his guilt and hatred for his actions.

Miranda walks over to Shepard after picking up a tiny flashlight. "Hold still Commander." She leans in front of him, holding the light against his cheeks and using two of her fingers to stretch the skin, to reveal his cybernetic implants within the scars. When Cerberus obtained Shepard's clinically brain dead body from an asari friend of Shepard named _Liara T'Soni_, after the Collectors destroyed the first Normandy, they imported synthetic implants to rebuild him from the dead. Now, most of them are replaced by newer ones, since the wave of the Crucible crippled _everything_ that was synthetic.

"Your synthetic implants were worn out when the Logan's rescue team found you. We were surprised that you survived that long without them." Miranda said. She puts away her flash light and steps aside to descend to the door.

"In any case, you will stay here for just a few more days before you're back on your feet. Admiral Hackett is expecting you to make a full recovery, by the way." Miranda turns to Tali. "I apologize, Tali, but he won't be up for another week or so." she said to the young quarian.

"I understand, Miranda. Thank you… for saving his life… again." Tali replied with a mixture of relief and sorrow.

Miranda smiles, places her right hand on her hips and arches them to her right, admiring Tali's human-like face, something she hasn't seen for herself before about Tali. "You look better without the helmet, by the way."

Tali just smiles back with a giggle, holding her right hand to the side of her chin.

The ex-Cerberus officer looks back at the commander. "Just stay put, commander. I'll be right back with you." With that, Miranda turns and walks out of the room. The doors close behind her with a *ping*.

Garrus turns to Shepard. "I should go to. The Primarch at Palaven needs me, and I can't keep him waiting forever. I'll see you later, Shepard." The turian stands up from his seat. "Hope you get well soon. Give me a call when you do." Garrus exits out the door, leaving just the commander and the quarian inside the quiet and calm patient room. Shepard turns to Tali.

"Did I promise I will come back?" he asked. Tears began to build up once again in Tali's glowing eyes.

"Yes." she replies. Shepard gives a small grin to her with pride in his big heart.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

Eight earth days have passed. Commander Shepard has finally made a complete recovery. He and the crew of the Normandy SR-2 arrive at the bridge of the SSV Logan for an awards ceremony presided by _Admiral Hackett_ himself.

"I am happy to report that absolutely _all_ living traces of the Reaper menace have now been eradicated!" says a Canadian reporter. "Thanks to _'Project Crucible'_, found by our legendary hero of humanity and his team on the very same planet (_Mars_) humankind discovered the physics of FTL! Let me introduce 'Commander Shepard' and the crew of the SSV Normandy SR-2! The _bane of the Reapers_ and _pinnacle of the galaxy_ has returned to tell his tale!"

Shepard and his team of the Normandy walk down the large hall leading to the base of the bridge where Hackett can award them. The audiences from both directions and floor levels give a cheerful applause as the bane of the Reapers walks straight forward. The crowd is mostly human, but there were a few other races with them such as _asari_, _turian_, _salarian_, _batarian_, _krogan_, _quarian_, and even a couple of _awakened collectors_. The rest of the Normandy's crew, including _Dr. Chakwas_, _Samantha Traynor_,_ Kenneth Donnelly_,_ Gabriella Daniels_,_ Greg _Adams, and _Diana Allers_ were all present within the crowd. Friends who have traveled with Shepard stop the collector threat with Cerberus were also present in the crowd, (_Miranda_, _Grunt_, _Kasumi_, _Zaeed_, _Samara_, _Jack_, _Kelly_, _Gardner_ and _Jacob_).

When Shepard walks up the steps to _Steven Hackett_, both him and Hackett saluted each other.

"Commander Shepard, it is a pleasure to have you back." Hackett spoke.

_Admiral Nitesh Singh_, the commander of the SSV Logan, steps up next to Hackett's right, holding a box containing nine golden Alliance decorations. They were circular with an '_A_' shaped logo on it with stars in between the upside down 'V'. Hackett picks up the first one to the right.

"For your service of the Systems Alliance N7 Army forces, being the first human spectre elected by the Citadel Council, facing every impossible odd in the galaxy, and being the _Bane of the Collectors, the Illusive Man, and the Reapers_, you and your crew deserve these '_Systems Alliance Badges of Bravery_'." In the middle of his speech, Hackett pins the badge on Shepard's chest pocket of his uniform. Afterwards, they both saluted each other. Each time Hackett pins a decoration and salutes back to that person, the crowd around the bridge give a round of applause. Shepard steps back the right for his squad mates to be awarded for their actions against the Reapers. _Ashley Williams_ steps up after Shepard.

"_Lieutenant Commander Williams_, as a sole survivor on _Eden Prime_, volunteer of the salarian operation on _Virmire_, and the second human spectre who saved the Council from Udina's betrayal, your honorable motives have replaced that of your _grandfather's_ (_General Williams_) disgraceful performance in Alliance history; the one who surrendered the Shanxi's garrison during the _First Contact War_. The Alliance Navy has welcomed your family back to the highest rank of military service." Hackett pins the badge just above Ashley's chest on her indigo blue coat during his speech. She and Hackett saluted before stepping next to Shepard to allow the next squad mate to be awarded. _Tali'Zorah_ was next.

"_Tali'Zorah vas Normandy_, your pilgrimage has given us solid proof of Saren's betrayal to the Council and a hint of the Reapers' existence. Without that salvaged information of yours, the galaxy itself would have never become this prepared against the Reapers, and their ruthless forces. In the future, both you and Commander Shepard will be pronounced as _man and wife of Rannoch_. _Keelah se'lai_; by the homeworld I hope to see one day." The badge Hackett held had a magnet that will stick onto Tali's right hood pin, just above her chest. And when it did with a flash of blue light, she and Hackett saluted during his last sentence of his speech to Tali. The next one up was _Garrus_.

"_Garrus Vakarian_, your _C-Sec _and _archangel_ experience has reflected great military credit upon Shepard's squad and the defenses of _Palaven_. Every turian has owed you their gratitude for saving their homeworld." The badge is magnetized on Garrus' soldier armor with a flash of light by Hackett. After saluting each other, the asari, _Liara T'Soni_ was next to step up.

"_Doctor T'Soni_, as the current _Shadow Broker_ of the galaxy, your dossiers have given us the ancient blue prints of the prothean superweapon that awarded us the achievement of triumph over the Reapers. We may never know its true origin, but its legacy will forever be the symbol of destroying the greatest enemy the galaxy has ever faced for ages." Hackett pins her badge on the left of Liara's Shadow Broker uniform. Afterwards, both Hackett and the asari saluted each other. _Steve Cortez_ was next after Liara.

"_Lieutenant Cortez_, your bravery to protect Shepard from aerial forces involved a great inner spirit. You followed what your heart said to do to keep the commander and his team alive during the final stand for Earth and the galaxy." Although Cortez was proud for his award badge being pinned on his vest for his bravery on his attempts to secure Shepard from the _harvester husks_, he suddenly had a memory flash back when his husband, _Robert_ was abducted by the Collectors just a year ago. He couldn't save him, but he did save the commander's life from the Reaper forces that were inbound when Shepard was ordered to destroy a _Reaper AA Hades Cannon_. Despite his emotional inner feelings, he and Hackett saluted each other and steps aside for the pilot of the Normandy, _Joker_, to step up after him.

"_Lieutenant Jeff Moreau_, from the start of being the pilot of the SR-1 and destroying Sovereign at the Citadel, to being the pilot of the SR-2, you have ranked yourself as being the one of the top pilots the Alliance could ever have. You have flown Commander Shepard and his team system by system, relay by relay, guiding him to some most highly impossible and suicidal odds the Alliance and the Council could not stand up for, such as _Ilos_ and the _Omega 4 Relay_." Joker's badge is pined on the left of his leather vest. He was proud of himself for the award Hackett has offered him for his honorable service with the commander. But deep inside, however, he felt defeated, mourning for the loss of EDI, because of Shepard's unwanted motives while choosing to eliminate the Reaper threat from the face of the Milky Way. Hopes of recovering EDI was over. There is nothing left of her that can be saved, even at Cerberus. The next person up next after he and Hackett saluted was _James Vega_.

"_Lieutenant Commander Vega_, since your bravery and heroism on _Fehl Prime_ against _the Blood Pack_ and _the Collectors_, you have fulfilled your destiny to follow Commander Shepard's path to the end of the war. The N7 Special Forces congrats the second of their best." Hackett pins James' decoration on him. After they salute, James turns his head back to the left of the audience to see his two friends and only survivors of the Collector attack on Fehl Prime applauding for him, _Milque_ and _Treeya the asari_. This is the first James finally accepts his awards, but he still regrets the hundreds of colonist lives he could not save during the Collector attack. One in particular, a little girl named _April_, who still haunts his memory and dreams. The last and final person to step up to be awarded is the last standing Prothean in the universe, _Javik_.

"And last but not least, _Javik_, the last of the _Prothean Empire_ who's vengeance against the Reaper forces has paid off for the future of this galaxy, and for every race that will come after us. Your people shall not be forgotten for their great grants before the start of this war." Hackett magnetizes the badge on Javik's red copper armor. After he and the prothean saluted, Javik doesn't walk to the right with the rest of Shepard's squad. Instead, he hesitates at his spot for a couple seconds and begins to speak.

"In my cycle, we have never had such victory before." Javik started. "But now… the Reapers have been defeated." He turns to face the audience. "The Earth has been rescued and so are the other homeworlds of all of your kind." He expands his arms to the crowd. "We are all alive, and together, we have overturned the Reaper threat for the destiny of your children and your children's children! I was meant to be the voice of my people, and now, I, _Javik_, rule of the _cycle of the primitives_!" Everyone went silent after his speech. "With the assistance of the Commander's faith." Javik added. One person gave a round of applause which is then followed by another, then another, and everyone eventually joined the applause, even Commander Shepard and the rest of his team.

The bridge doors open again. Three bipedal figures have entered the bridge. It's the _Citadel Council_, who miraculously survived the war. The councilors are _Sparatus (the turian)_, _Tevos (the asari)_, and _Valern (the salarian)_. They all step up towards Shepard, who has walked up in front to face the councilors.

**T:** "Commander Shepard, we have gathered here to acknowledge your courageous daring against Cerberus and the Reapers."

**V:** "Millions, if not, billions of lives of the targeted species, including yours and ours have fallen into the cold hands of the Reapers and the Illusive Man. But your heroic efforts against the unimaginable odds have saved the billions of lives of every single existing species in the galaxy."

**S:** "You saved our lives multiple times from the attack of Saren and Sovereign, to Udina's betrayal with Cerberus, all the way to the end of Reaper Invasion. Now, every living live, including ours will owe you our thanks for your actions of stopping the Reapers and Cerberus for eternity. Let's not forget those we knew and loved who have perished before us for their service of this war."

In Shepard's mind, images of those who have died in his watch rush through his vision. And those lives were those from 2183, all the way to the dark days of the Reaper Invasion (_Richard L. Jenkins_, _Kaidan Alenko_, _Charles Pressly_, _Mordin Solus_, _Thane Krios_, _Legion_,_ Nyreen Kandros_, _EDI_, _the young boy from Vancouver_, and his best friend: _David Anderson_).

**T:** "And now, we and Admiral Hackett have round up every corner of the galaxy together to help rebuild everything we know. Our homeworlds, colonies, the mass relays, and the Citadel."

**V:** "Other races who have remained outside of Citadel delegations have also agreed to give us their support in helping to rebuild what was lost from this relentless war; the _Raloi_, the _Sangheili_, the _Vulcans_, and many others."

With the expansion of Hackett's galactic round up, over a dozen of non-citadel races have been rallied together with the citadel races to work as one in rebuilding what was destroyed during the war, and to help expand a _better_ galactic community. Already, as the Council speaks, several Council and non-council species ships are piecing together the mass relay network and the Citadel station, which is just visible outside the Logan's bridge windows.

**S:** "As Bane of the Reapers, Commander Shepard, it is the decision of the Council; you have proven yourself as being a '_Guardian_'of the galaxy. You are now the bodyguard against every galactic threat the galaxy ever has to face on behalf of the Council and the Alliance."

The audience and Shepard's squad gives a round of applause after Sparatus' speech. Commander Shepard has ranked himself as the legendary protector of the galaxy. His heroism legacy will live on in the next several thousand, if not, millions of years into the far distant future, and beyond.

**V:** "And as a reward for your courageous spirit, we would like to award you the '_Helm of Salvation_'."

As Councilor Valern speaks his sentence, the council steps a side letting a _huragok_ hover up the steps of the bridge over to Commander Shepard, holding a black and silver colored breather helmet. Its appearance quality was clear as day, as if it were recently polished, and on the top right side of it is a logo representing the Citadel.

The last time Shepard ever saw a huragok was sometime after he was taken into custody by the Alliance in Vancouver. Now it is presumed deceased by the Reaper forces. This huragok resides on the SSV Logan when the _Sangheili_ (outside of the ongoing _Covenant Remnant_) traded over one to the _Arcturus Station_ to be recruited by Admiral Nitesh Singh to assist in the ship's engineering systems once the Logan's construction was completed. Now it is here to give the commander the _Helm of Salvation_.

Shepard picks up the helmet from the tentacles of the huragok as it hands it over to him. But he hesitates for a moment and looks back at the forerunner creature, which stares back at him blankly. After just a couple seconds time, his tension turns back to the helmet, and eventually… he puts it on with a clicking noise, *click!*.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

"_**Four earth years later…"**_

The escape vessel which has escaped the Metarex attack now lays dormant under the uncharted world's surface. The colonist has been under suspended hibernation for one hundred and seventy-one earth years long. A rupture from the moon's geological fault line vibrates the surface. A little tiny loose rock drops onto the tip of the vessel's broadcast antenna. Though such a small impact, it awakens its distress beacon; releasing its radio waves out and beyond the stars of the galaxy, with the colonist still under stasis mode.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

"_**Year 2190, four years after the Reaper Invasion…**_

_**With the Reapers gone and the company and idea of Cerberus obliterated, the galaxy has touched up everything that was lost, and numerous races across the galaxy have assisted in expanding the galactic community.**_

_**But there was warning from the intelligence of the Citadel where the peace would one day break apart when the created surpass their creators once again. Only one existing race can fill in the missing link to prevent this extinction cataclysm from taking place again in the galaxy.**_

_**Commander Shepard will be the first to discover it…"**_

**Electronic Arts and gabeluna27 presents…**

**A BioWare multi universe crossover fan sequel novelization**

******. . . . . . . . . . . .**

** Mass Effect**  
**New Rising**

In the _Serpent Nebula_ cluster, the _SSV Normandy SR-2 _starship soars by the star of the _Widow system_.

"Widow Relay hit commencing ETA one minute, at counting." Joker's voice announces in the Normandy. The crew prepares all the ship's systems for transit.

During the approach of the Widow Relay, Shepard's squadmates tend their time on the Normandy. Javik and Liara T'Soni in the Shadow Broker's room go through their data pads about their coming current priority. Garrus and Steve Cortez finish up a brief conversation in the shuttle bay. Lieutenant Commander Williams and James Vega in the observation port, hold onto each other's shoulders, staring at the colorful gas clouds in the skies outside the window while standing up.

"Mass transmission sequence preparations are connected. All ship systems compromise to secure mode."

The Normandy explodes out of a layer of gases, creating a glittering and cloudy star dust-like vapor trail. The trail swirls like a tail of magic following the ship, but soon fades away.

Commander Shepard walks out of the elevator and into _Dock 2: the Combat Information Center_. He walks up the steps to the map of the Milky Way, where his quarian wife, Tali and their _two children hybrids_ await him. Tali places her left hand on her human husband's right hand as he puts both of his on the rail. The young infant hybrids walk next to their father's legs and look up right at him. Shepard keeps his head straight forward, focused and prepared for a mission Hackett has sent out to him and his friends. Although it isn't, to Shepard, this is like déjà vu of the _Eden Prime excavation mission_ eight years ago.

"Widow Relay's within range. Everyone stand by for approach transmission and hold on to your butts."

The Normandy has reached the now repaired _Widow Relay_, the mass relay of the Widow System.

When the ship gets closer to the core of element zero, a large amount of mass energy is transmitted into the corridor by Joker. "Relay hit in T-minus 5, 4, 3, 2, 1…" Right after the pilot says the count down, the mass relay shoots the Normandy though space instantaneously with a blow of the element zero. *BOOOMMM!*


	2. Distress Signal

**Episode 2:**

**Distress Signal**

Couple relays later, the Normandy has just arrived at the very edge of the _Attican Traverse_ of the _Delta Quaderant_.

"All ship systems are online and we've just cleared the mass relay, now approaching the _Eurna system_." Joker's voice comes out of the speakers of the Normandy.

Shepard stands at his place on the deck of the galaxy map. He has no idea what he's getting himself into this time. It has been four years since the fall of the Reapers, and now, he is recruited back onto the Normandy by Hackett for an urgent mission Shepard has yet to be briefed about. Knowing he might not do this alone, he recruites his team who served the Normandy four years ago back on board the ship, and that also includes his wife, Tali'Zorah/Shepard. It is their children's third birthday today and the family and their friends have celebrated it on the now repaired Citadel, the reason how his crew easily rejoined the Normandy.

Having children is a major accomplishment for both Shepard and Tali, because both their amino acids are completely different from each other. Shepard is _levo-protein based_ and Tali is _dextro-protein based_. Both their genes are too incompatible to each other, so if the two attempted to have natural babies together, their chances of having naturally born children are _0%_ according to the science. But when you have the scientific manipulation knowledge of both _Salarian_ and _Hanar_ scientists, anything was virtually possible. The results, _two healthy fraternal twin hybrids_, both born from Tali's womb from a science manipulation project. It may have been illegal to the galactic community, but it was well worth it if both Shepard and Tali wanted a family, in which they actually did.

The twins are brother and sister, _Karel'Shepard nar Normandy_ and _Rea'Shepard nar Normandy_.

The son, _Karel_, was the first hybrid to be born. His skin color is tan like that of a human's, but with a pinch of pale lavender mixed in. His legs are just like a human's with five digits on each foot, with the second and fourth digit slightly extended. His pupils are black as coal like a human's. He is primarily levo-protein DNA based and has a strong human-like immune system.

The daughter, _Rea_, was the last hybrid to be born. She has pale lavender skin like that of a quarian's, but with a pinch of tan mixed in. Her legs bowed backwards like a quarian's with three digits on each foot. Her pupils are bioluminescent white like a quarian's. She is primarily dextro-protein DNA based and has a weak quarian-like immune system, so she requires a miniature sized enviro-suit.

Equally, the twins both have four digits on each of their hands, pinkish nail colors mixed with human ivory and quarian red, black hair, white scleras and blue irises that glow, human/quarian-like ears that flick, and quarian body patterns on their foreheads, eyelids, and necks, torsos, and backs.

"Daddy? Where are we going?" Rea asked curiously through her visor.

"I don't know, sweetie." Shepard replies, smiling at his little birthday girl. He gently pads his left hand onto her head, prompting her to giggle.

Shepard turns to Karel. "Ready for duty Son?" he saluted and asked.

"Yes sir, Daddy!" Karel saluted proudly. He is really overjoyed about boarding the Normandy for the second time in his life, this time, on a real life mission.

Karel's dream is to become an N7 Systems Alliance soldier when he grows up, just like his father. Rea on the other hand, prefers to become an engineer of the Normandy, just like her mother. Both twins occasionally argue about which of their dreams is better, which can be frequent in Shepard's family. Regardless, Shepard and Tali have a very lovingly family.

"Mommy says we are going to the Achican Traverse." Karel said to his sister.

"Uncle Joker said we're going to a system!" Rea snapped back, shortening her brother's name.

"Alright you two, let's not start a fight on the ship. It is your birthday and we don't want spoil it, do we?" Tali said, picking up Karel in her arms and holding him to her side, head length and smiling.

"She's right, today you two have just been recruited on the ship. You two want to become the best recruits of the Normandy, do you?" Shepard intervened while picking up Rea in his arms, looking at her with a joyful smile.

"Yes sir!" Both twins saluted to their father.

"Alrighty, then make sure you keep her safe and sound my little privates."

Tali kisses Karel on the cheek, proud of her birthday boy hybrid. The Normandy is one of the only places Tali doesn't need to wear her helmet all of the time. Her immune system has adapted to the germs of the ship, but she still need the rest of her enviro-suit on, of course.

"Ew! Gross!" Karel exclaimed in his high child voice, wiping his hands over his cheek.

Shepard and Tali burst into laughter.

"Commander, incoming message from _Councilor Hackett_. He's requesting your presence at the QEC room." Comm Specialist Traynor announced to Shepard, just across from her station.

"Daddy's gotta go my little privates. He will report back in duty E.T.A. five minutes. Daddy over and out!" Shepard saluted to his children after handing Rea over to Tali.

"Over and out Daddy!" the twins saluted to his father just before he make his way to the War Room.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

A blueish virtual image of Hackett patches up before Shepard in the QEC room of the War Room hall. Instead of being in an Alliance admiral's uniform, Hackett is in a councilor's uniform after being elected as humanity's next representative to the council in the aftermath of rallying the galaxy together with the help of the other citadel councilors.

"Commander Shepard." Hackett started. "I apologize for your ignorance, but I have just received _Admiral Murray's_ dossiers of the urgent priority."

"Let's hear it." Shepard replied crossing his arms.

"Alliance expeditions have picked up a series of unknown SOS waves in an unexplored system of the Attican Traverse which they've dubbed the _Eurna System_. Executive squads have been dispatched on a terrestrial moon of the system's only two planets (a gas giant planet). What they have uncovered was a pod of some kind, it's an _alien vessel_ and it's still operating."

The information Hackett just gave out has immediately stunned the commander in the inside. First, he was briefed about an unearth Prothean beacon on Eden Prime eight years ago, now he gets a report of an uncovered, yet still active alien pod.

"Any chance it's Prothean or Forerunner design?" guessed Shepard. He wonders if Hackett knows what technology the object the Alliance has found is based off of any race Shepard knows.

"Unlikely. The pod's impact to the satellite was dated less than two hundred years ago. Out of all the known existing space-faring races, this alien pod's tech is something we've never seen before. Speculators say there is something valuable or even something alive in it. I don't know much about it yet, the case is heavily classified so pirates like the _Kig-Yar_ wouldn't seize it. But securing that pod unharmed is one of the Alliance's top priorities of the pyramid. Once the pod is secured here to the Citadel, researchers will analyze and study the pod's tech, and reveal what importance it would give to us and the community." Hackett speaks with tension, giving out the known details to the commander, slamming a fist into his left palm.

This '_pod_' the Alliance just found is _origin_ '_undetermined_'. Shepard knew assignments like this always means unfortunate circumstances to come along the way, just like the _Eden Prime War_.

"You said this is an '_u__rgent_' priority, Councilor?" Shepard asked.

Hackett nods his head while crossing his arms. "By 21 hundred hours after the party was dispatched, Admiral Murray has received this audio transmission straight from the satellite's surface. Patching it to you now." He pulls out his omi-tool, patching the transmission to the QEC's speakers. The first thing they hear is a series of firing firearms.

_# "Lt. Jackson of the 315! We're being attack by a pack of unknown hostiles! We- Whoa!" #_

An earthly screech and the sound of something swiping cuts of the man's sentence, indicating that _Lt. Jackson_ has just avoided something attacking him.

_# "We've suffered sever casualties! We can not hold the enemy off for much longer! Repeat: We can't hold them off any-"_

_*CRUNCH!* #_

The clear noise of a body being crushed into a bloody scene right after another roar is heard from behind the sounds of shooting firearms and explosions. The lieutenant has suffered a horrible death.

_# *OAROUGH-* - *Static* #_

A deep bellowing roar is cut off into dead static. Hackett pulls out his omni-tool again, closing the audio transmission.

"There have been no other ship reports since the 315 was sent down. What ever assaulted them is definitely still down there... somewhere. Possibly something smarter than us. Murray fears if another team is sent down, they to would face the same fate. That's why he recruited someone like you back onto the Normandy for this commission." Hackett spoke.

"Are you sure that pod is still out there?" Shepard asks again.

"We're still getting the same readings of the alien pod on the satellite right now, unless it's a trap, which I don't think so." he responded. "Once you've retrieved the pod to your ship, notify me again about your reports. Also, because of your status as the _Guardian of the Galaxy_, you are free to open and or use what ever you've just found."

"I'll do what ever it takes Councilor." said Shepard, understanding the information of this mission.

"Be careful down there Shepard, and one more thing. Tell your children, I wish them their happy birthday. Hackett out." he finished his last sentence with his usuall '_goodbye_' quote. His virtual image dims out.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

Exiting out the elevator shaft to the shuttle bay, Shepard is in his N7 Armor, holding his Helm of Salvation in his left arm. The moon's atmosphere is too inhospitable to breathe in, and his guardian helmet is a breather type, perfect for the satellite's thin and breathless gasses.

His team has awaited him in the shuttle bay, waiting for their next orders from the commander.

"Liara, Javik, you two and I will escort the pod out of the moon's surface onto the Normandy. Once after, Liara and _Glyph_ will analyze the pod's tech, while you, Javik, read what species that thing once belonged to." Shepard orders his two squad mates.

"How about I go on this one." Ashley intervened excitedly, raising an arm up.

"Williams?" he responded.

"Just like old times _Skipper_." she smirked and saluted at the same time.

"I shall oust myself with the Ashley human, Commander. Primitives tend to become hysterical for their turns. Pretty unfortunate in this cycle." Javik steps aside, crossing his arms.

"Alright. Liara, Ash, you with me on this one." he ordered. He turns to Cortez, reviewing the Normandy's newest _M-44 Hammerhead_. "How's it looking over there, Cortez?"

"Well...Looking good as new Commander, and ready for it's first drive." replied Cortez.

Karel suddenly rushes over and locks onto one of Shepard's legs, laughing in an overjoyed manner.

"There you are my little private marine." Shepard pick up his son with his free arm and places him in front view, smiling.

"This is Alliance marine Karel! Reporting for duty sir!" he salutes to his father, who chuckles joyfully.

"Now now Karel, your father is very busy right now. Come on." Tali, holding Rea in her right arm, tells Karel to come back to her so Shepard doesn't get distracted.

"Aww!" Karel '_aws_' in shame and walks back to his mother in disappointment.

James walks next to Shepard's right and pads a hand on his shoulder, chuckling. "I could have sworn you were about to take him with you, Loco. That would have been fun."

"Daddy's got work to do my little privates. He'll be back before you know it. Daddy over and out!" Shepard salutes to his kids, who saluted back to him, with out saying a word though.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

The Normandy enters the the thin atmosphere of the uncharted moon of the Eurna System.

Shepard equips an _M-8 Avenger_, _M-3 Predator_, and an _N7-Crusader_ onto the back his armor. He fastens his Helm of Salvation last with a clicking noise. *Click!*

Ashley Williams puts her breather helmet on as well, and Liara straps her mouth mask onto her face. Asari bodies can physically withstand many different atmosphere pressures on many different worlds, including the vacuum of space. However, they still need oxygen to breathe regularly to survive.

The next minute, the trio release and enter the newly polished Hammerhead. The first M-44 Hammerhead the Normandy originally had was found and brought back by Commander Shepard five years ago when working for Cerberus, on the planet of Zeona. The Hammerhead he found was part of a Cerberus Project known as '_Firewalker_', in which Shepard helped accomplished. When the Normandy was brought back to the Alliance to be upgraded, it was demolished by the Reaper forces to Earth.

The Hammerhead's hatches close shut, and the squad fastens themselves onto their seats. Shepard fiddles with the machine's console, until it's engines and systems go online.

{Primary systems online.} A somewhat monotone male voice comes through the M-44. {Welcome to the _M-44 Hammerhead infantry fighting vehicle_. This is your onboard_ VI_.}

Shepard turns the hovering Hammerhead to the opening Shuttle Bay hatch. Once the hatch is fully opened, the Hammerhead hovers down the runway and out of the Normandy's hanger.

"Say goodbye to Daddy mijos." said James to Shepard's kids.

"Bye bye daddy!" Karel and Rea said at the same time, waving their hands.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

*VoOOM* The Hammerhead hovers safely on the moon's surface, just before it could take impact.

The satellite of the gas giant (one of the only two planets of the Eurna System) is a harsh desert of darkened moon rock mountain formations, chasms and sheer cliffs. The atmosphere is too uninhabitable for humans. It's extremely thin and clear as a night sky, but there are still gas clouds in the sky appearing in an abnormal pinkish tone. The gasses are being produced through a series of spewing vents from the results of volcanic activity. Boiling underground acid, poisonous gasses and earthquakes are very frequent on this harsh terrestrial world.

{Mission objective has been located.} The M-44's VI states out.

Shepard examines the location of the excavation camp site on the scanner's radar. It's exactly 2010.57 meters away.

"When was the last time you drove one of these things?" Ashley asked the commander.

"When working for Cerberus. Why?"

"Nothing. Just wondering." she responded back quickly.

Shepard sets up the Hammerhead to dive mode. "Hold on." he said to his team mates while focusing on the screen in front of him, which shows where and what they're facing outside.

The Hammerhead boosts straight forward at high speeds. It speeds up to a ramp formation in the terrain, sending the Hammerhead into the air.

*Pow! Pow! Pow!* Hoverjets propel the vehicle to keep at a high level away from the uneven obstacles in the chasm below.

The M-44 makes it to the other side of the gap. Seconds pass, and there's a blockage in the path. An avalanche as obstructed the M-44's way.

{Obstruction detected.} notified the VI.

Because there are too many rocks to blow a clear passage, Shepard makes the Hammerhead hop into the air and boosts it up more with the hoverjets. They eventually overheat and the M-44 drops down. Luckily, it lands just on the other side of the avalanche.

{Obstruction cleared.}

The Hammerhead continues it's trek down the path of the uncharted world. After just several seconds, the squad of the M-44 has reached the camp site zone.

{Mission objective reached. Electromagnetic waves of unknown origin detected.} It is hard to ignore that these unknown waves the M-44 is detecting could be the alien pod Shepard has been briefed about back on the Normandy.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

The doors open up. Shepard, Ashley and Liara step out of the M-44 and into the dig site camp. Their guns are drawn out, ready to shoot anything that attacks them first.

"What the hell?" Ashley spoke to herself, gazing at the aftermath of the attack.

The camp had three rectangular shelters, two of them which were topped over and all of them with huge dents on them. One the side of an outcrop is a destroyed _Mako_ the military of the excavation party used, still burning away. Debris and specks of ash was blown from the ground by the oxygenless breezes. The entire excavation camp pretty much looked like ghost town after an act of war. Blood stains were present on certain objects, but there are no signs of any bodies at all.

"Looks like the Geth attack of Eden Prime." Ashley said nervously. She begins to have memories of her former ground unit, _the 212_, being overpowered by the Geth forces, and the aftermath of Eden Prime's lost beaut. The time when she first met Commander Shepard and Kaidan Alenko after saving her life from the searching Geth units.

"These men were a party of researchers and executive officers. They had no idea what was about come." Liara said in her usual calm, but more concerned voice.

Shepard and Ashley check out one of the shelters that has been toppled sideways. They enter into the huge hole that was on the bottom of the building. Something big came through there for sure. And around the big gash they've just entered were the bullet holes left from firing pistols. The shell casings were scattered beneath their feet. The shooter didn't have accurate aiming obviously.

"Damn." started Ash. "What were these people shooting at? These were just traditional archaeologists."

While the two didn't find anything else too appealing, Liara investigates the other shelter that hasn't been knock over. With the door locked shut, the only way in was through the large rip on the window.

On the steel floor is an active datapad that Liara picks up. She reads the entry carefully for any information abut the pod they must find here.

[_Datapad Log: Phineas Moder  
_

_After over an hour of setting up base camp where that signal was detected, the team and I discovered something that was truly astounding. _

_We have uncovered a chamber of unknown alien tech. The date of it's impact on this moon was around one hundread and seventy-one years ago! No other race in the galaxy today has such technology like this, ever.  
_

_I speculate it to be some kind of escape pod. But some say it's hidden away valuable goods or God knows what. None of us are equipped to scan exactly what could be in there. The glass of that thing is to hard to see though to, like it dropped to 0 °C inside like a damned cryogenic chamber._

_Today, we will pull that fucker out of hiding, and into sunlight. After, we'll ship it off to the Citadel for proper study, and more importantly, find out what phenomenal secrets that thing might be hiding for the community._]

Liara places the datapad back down on a small desk. She may have gotten useful information on the past priority and the alien pod itself prior to the attack, but she's gotten no solid evidence on the attack itself. With that, Liara jumps out of the shelter to regroup with Shepard and Ash.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

After making sure the rest of the unexplored area is clear of any hostiles, Shepard's squad splits up into their own directions. Liara will investigate the downed shuttle over to the left on a small slope. Ashley will check out the third wrecked shelter that's been topped forward. The commander will scout ahead, to see if he can find where ever the alien pod could possibly be.

Lt. Williams enters through the huge hole left on the roof of the knocked over shelter. She is surprised how big the holes on the shelters were. They don't look like they were made by any sort of firearm, but more like a giant nail being hammered down onto thin weak metal. She knew something has made it, something '_big_' supposably. It had to be.

Ashely becomes mentally horrified when she look up and sees two other large holes with a series of scratches around them. Some were dented in while others were opened cracks, as if someone stabbed a knife repeatedly against the metal, a '_big_' knife at that.

"Uh... Are you seeing this all this, Commander" Ashley contacts Shepard through her comm still staring up at the above damage. "What do you make of this crap?" she continued.

"I don't know yet." he responded.

Getting a closer look, Ash can see the suspicious bright greenish color of some kind of oze, stained an dripping off the side of the second hole on the wall above. A drop plops into one of her palms. *Spik!* The stuff was gooey and sticky. Ash thinks it's blood of some sort. But blood from what?

Ash suddenly hears her heart beating in her ears after this realization. What if the killers weren't raiders at all. What if they were some kind of animals indigenous to this moon? Impossible, no life could exist in this hazardous environment. But better yet, _thresher maws_ are able to survive in harsh uninhabitable worlds, but could a thresher maw do the same on a volcanic world like this one? Could the attackers be be a small pack of those things? Nah, they're extremely territorial and prefer to be solitary beings.

Ash takes a breath to let her fears go before turning her attentions ways from the scene. It was simple too much for her. But just as she turns around, she pots a cabinet next to the sideways wall. Ashley tries to open it, but it's locked. It must be overdrived manually to unlock it. She pulls out her omni-tool and presses her hand against it. After just a few seconds, the cabinet opens. Inside was a pack of three sonic detonators.

"_What's this?_" She spoke to herself quietly. She picks them up and straps them to her side, figuring out they may come in handy later.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

Meanwhile, outside in the aftermath, Liara reaches the crashed shuttle, still burning in flames. As she examines the wreckage further, she can tell it was no accident.

The shuttle has deep dents and large dark scratch marks. One of the shuttle's tails has been ripped off. The missing piece was laying just several yards away from the wreckage. Something had to be strong enough to rip that thing right off place.

Something came through here... something '_huge_'. Maybe even a whole pack of them.

Liara walks to the opposite side of the wrecked shuttle, but stops dead in her tracks. She has spotted something that really catches her eyes as they widen in horror.

"_Goddess!_" she exclaimed. She immediately attempts to contact the Commander. "Shepard! Over here! You need to look at this!" she said fearfully at the comm.

Shepard didn't bother to ask questions, he instinctively rushes over to the shuttle where straight for Liara. He knew something disturbing has caught the arari's eyes in terms by the sound of her voice.

Both Shepard and Ash arrive to where a terrified and stiff Liara was standing. In front of the trio was the bottom half of a man's torso laying in a pool of its own blood. Unknown to Shepard, it's _Lt. Jackson_ from the audio transmission... or what's left of him.

Ashley turns away from the sight and holds both of her hands against her helmet, trying to fight back her nausea. Shepard steps forward and kneels down, examining the decaying corps.

"He's been mutilated. Something sliced his body in two. There's no sign of the other half either." he said.

"Any idea what might have done this?" Liara asked, still frightened by the scene.

"Something with devastating power, and savagery to do this in just one blow." the commander said back to her. Then he see something else on the ground. It was a splotch of clear, sticky liquid. After touching it himself, something else pops into his head. This stuff looks like drying saliva. He looks back at the body, then, it hits him right on.

"Doesn't look like he's been cut off, looks more like he's been _chewed_." he said, still looking at Jackson's remains.

"By what?" Liara asked a second time.

Shepard looks up to her eyes with a stern look in his own eyes. With out hesitation, he replies back with, "Good question."

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

The team continues down the path way until they each a small ridge. On it, was a large cave entrance, blocked by what is left of a small rock slide.

"Over there, Shepard. Could that be the dig site?" Ashley asked Shepard, pointing at it.

"Maybe." Shepard quickly replies back.

The Commander steps forward towards the rubble blockage and pulls out his omni-tool. To his surprise, the e.m. readings are stronger than ever. This is defiantly the location of the alien pod, but how will they be able to get through the rubble? Shepard looks on both sides, looking for a possible passage through, but he found no luck.

"Damn it! There's no way in." he cursed.

A light bulb flicks above Ash's head. Her sonic detonators, she knew they would be useful later. The question is: '_Will these things work for the situation?_' She walks toward the rubble, passing Shepard.

"Let me try my keys." she said. Ashley places one detonator on each asie. One on the left, one on the front, and one on the right.

Ash suddenly runs for cover behind a rock to the right. "Fire in the hole!" she yelled while running. Shepard and Liara do the same behind a stack of supply crates to the left.

*POWPOOW!*

A sonic wave rumbles the ground and chunks of stone rain down above the trio. They all look up, and when the cloud of dust and rubble clears away, the trio can see the entrance to the cave is now clear.

"Remind me to ask you where you got those 'keys', Lieutenant." Shepard ironically asks her for a reminder for later once the mission is over.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

Shepard and his team cautiously walk through the darkness of the cave with their weapon flashlights on. This is actually a tunnel that's been dug up, just big enough for a Mako or a Hammerhead to explore.

"This place looks unstable. Watch out for a cave in." Shepard warned his two squad mates.

Seconds time has passed. After walking into nothing but continuous pitch blackness, Shepard and his squad makes a right turn to where a light beams through a large crater on the ceiling of a natural tunnel intersection system. The crater was formed when the pod took impact on the satellite just after escaping the Metarex assault nearly two centuries ago.

In the center of the intersection, where the light shines over is what Shepard came for. It's the _active alien pod_, resting and tilting in a pit it has made during the crash.

"Looks like we've found the pod." said Shepard. "Seems intact. We're going in." Shepard proceeded down to the pit. Ash and Liara follow.

Once they've gotten up close and personal, they've got a good examination of the pod. The back side was facing towards them. There was a blinking red light on top of a small antenna, the source of the unknown e.m. distress waves. The front view was completely different from the back and easy to examine the pod's characteristics. It was about ten feet tall and egg-shaped with a pair ducts and small ventilation grills on each side on the front of the pod, and what appears to be folded in wings on the symmetry sides. On the middle was a small tail on the top half and a glass looking chamber with a green ring going around the pod's lower diameter. On the center of the ring on the front side was a large glassy looking chamber. It's hard to see exactly what's inside it because it is blinded in a wall of tiny frosted crystals. It is possible that this is some kind of stasis pod the Alliance has uncovered.

"This is incredible! Technology that's been in here for almost two hundred years and still functioning." Liara talked to herself.

"Uh... We've found what we came for, but how are we gonna get this thing out of here?" Ashley asked the other two.

Technically this was an excellent question. The pod's bottom was stationed deep into the hole, and due to it's massive size, it was impossible to carry out with out assistance. Shepard fears if the rest of the Normandy's crew was dispatched down here, they to would suffer a horrible fate by what ever attacked the camp site.

Hesitating for several moments, Liara comes up with an idea go get the alien pod unstuck from it's spot. "I can try use a biotic lift to levitate the pod out of place."

Liara steps in front of the pod. The asari starts to glow blue. Her natural biotics power up.

*SHIWOOWM!* A biotic pulse instantly surrounds the pod.

Liara then lifts her hands up and outward. The pod creaks and tilts in more. Thinking she needs assistance, both Shepard and Ashley grab both sides and, using as much force as they can, try to push it forward. Then...

*CIRACK-BOSHHM!* The pod drops forward, with the front facing upwards. Liara's biotics fade out.

"Right. So... what now?" Ashley pants after using so much energy on the pod.

Shepard looks back to where they came from. He realizes it was big enough for a vehicle to go through.

"I have an idea." he said.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

The M-44 Hammerhead's systems turn on, hovers off the ground and turns the opposite direction. Shepard has entered and activated the M-44. Inside, he switches the viewing screen from front view, to back view.

{Back View Mode activated.} notified the VI.

The Hammerhead emerges out of the dark tunnel and into the intersection room facing backwards about a minute later. It parks just a few yards away from the alien pod. Ash and Liara, who stayed behind to make sure the pod remains secured, open up the M-44's back pockets to pull out its two winches. Shepard jumps out of the hovercraft to help his two friends strap and tighten the winches around the pod's wings. The commander can't guarantee this plan will work but it's the only best option they have for the moment.

Now that the winches are strapped around the wings, Shepard and his team head back to the Hammerhead. But then, Liara hears something from behind.

*GRUMBLE!*

She heard a faint yet very disturbing growling noise, coming from one of the dark tunnels on the exact opposite side of their tunnel, which makes her turn her head back in a quick passe. But there was nothing she could see. She turns back to the M-44 and enters it.

The Hammerhead powers up again. Slowly, it move forward. A tug is made when the winches become fully extended. With more speed applied, the Hammerhead continues forward, and the pod slowly is being pulled out of it's resting place.

{Object being extracted.} the VI once again stated.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

Couple minutes time later, the M-44 Hammerhead reaches the exit and the pod has safely made it outside undamaged.

{Object extraction complete.}

At last, the alien pod is out of it's spot after some one hundred and seventy-one years.

"Joker, bring the Normandy down here to our signal. The pod is secured and ready for immediate evac." Shepard contacts Joker through the comm.

"Roger that Commander. Locking in on your location. E.T.A. seven minutes." the pilot replies back.

Joker prepares to fly the Normandy into the moon's atmosphere, but just as he is about to.. *Beep-Beep-Beep!* a notification beeping noise breaks through. Something else has appear in the Normandy's radar.

What Joker can see on the radar is a small _unknown fighter ship_ heading straight to the commander's signal location.

"Commander. We've got an unidentified ship inbound!" Joker comes back through the comm, alarmed.

"Give me an IFF on it Joker." Shepard quickly replies.

Joker works away on the ship's console, and he is shocked about the situation.

"Commander, the ship isn't Alliance." said Joker "The ship's signatures are unknown, and..." he stops his sentence when he gets a familiar yet ghostly fraction within the ship itself. "You're not gonna believe this Shepard! I'm picking up a dozen 'Geth' signatures in that thing, and it's coming in fast to your location!" he continued in horror.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

{Incoming ship of undetermined origin.} said the M-44's VI.

In the sky above, an oval-shaped spacecraft roughly about 60 ft. in length and 30 ft. wide hovers above the opposite end of the camp from the Hammerhead. It's hatch open up. Dropping out of it were nine troop unites as the ship hovers around in a smooth triangle.

The unites were huddled in, but once after all nine units are dispatched, they then stood up in a bipedal stance. A pair of aerials extend out of the backs of the troop units, and a violate light glows from the tips and on various areas on the bipedal figures. Shepard and his team stare at the scene through the screen of the Hammerhead.

Soon after, a single whitish light appears on the heads of the figures making a mechanical static-like sound. {_*KRRREIE-ZRROUH!*_}

To Shepard's horror, its an army of nine troops he thought were destroyed by the Crucible's wave. An army of nine synthetic based lifeforms he first fought on Eden Prime eight years ago. Synthetics he made a truce with between them and their creators (the Quarians) four years ago. '_Geth_'.

"That's impossible." said a surprised Lt. Williams. "They shouldn't be here anymore. They were destroyed."

"Unless they've been rebuilt." Shepard said while still staring in terror at the screen.

"But then, who would..." Ashley couldn't finish up what she was about to say, but still shook her head left to right. She was still completely shocked at what the are seeing right now.

The Geth army was made out of three _red __destroyers_, two _hunters_, one _shock trooper_, and three _traditional trooper_ platforms.

The unknown spacecraft quickly flies away from plane sight. The shock trooper unit scans the Hammerhead through it's eye scanner. After, all of the geth units instantly pull out their guns , aiming at the Hammerhead. Their head lights suddenly change from white to bright red. At the exact time their head lights change to red, a small triangular chip piece quickly slides down just above their lights, cutting off some of the bright lights on their heads, and giving them a more demonic looking appearance. This is something no geth Shepard has fought before has ever done.

Without warning, the geth destroyers suddenly begin to fire homing rockets at the motionless Hammerhead.

"Shepard!" shouted Liara.

"I know!" he yelled. Shepard makes the M-44 swiftly dodge the incoming rockets. The rockets lose their target and missing both the Hammerhead and the intact alien pod.

*TSOOM! TSOOM! TSOOM!* The Hammerhead fires three guided missiles at the geth destroyers. *BOOM! BOOM!* One destroyer platform was taken out, while the other units scatter. Another destroyer manages to dodge the third incoming missile. The geth shock trooper pulls out it's weapon and a purple electrical pulse beam is shot out of it. It hits the unlucky Hammerhead!

The M-44 is covered in a fatal wave of electric charges. Its systems die off and the Hammerhead drops to the ground with a loud bang. *CRASH!*

"Crap!" shouted Shepard, while trying to get the systems back online.

"Well... this is unfortunate." Liara pointed out the obvious.

Not wanting to sit around any longer, Shepard instinctively sits up from his seat and uses his right leg to kick the Hammerhead's hatch to open up. "Urgh!" *Bang! Bang!* with one more good kick, *Bang!*, he manages to get the hatch to open. He quickly jumps out from the right side, followed by Liara then Ashley.

As soon as they got out, the standard geth troopers were already at close range.

"Behind you Shepard!" the lieutenant shouted.

Reacting quickly, Shepard and his squad mates fire at will to the geth. But when they do so, the geth suddenly pull out what looked like a violet toned omni-tool, and once activated, a purple shield is converted for each individual. The bullets did nothing but bounced off with no effect.

"What the hell!?" Ash yelled again, surprised by the new geth motives.

*VOSHWOM!* Liara uses a boitic throw against the three geth, knocking them off their heals making them lose control of their omni-shields.

Shepard and the others open fire at the downed geth. One of them however, hurriedly gets back up and leaps sideways, taking cover on the left side of the M-44, avoiding the gun shots of it's attackers.

With two less geth to worry about, Shepard, Ashley and Liara move out take out the rest of those that were dispatched.

A destroyer attempts to counter attack the three from behind a stack of crates to their right. {*_TGRI-TIrr!_*} the geth's synthetic cords make a grumble, just before firing another homing rocket. *TSOW!*

Shepard shoots the rocket from behind causing it to blow up in mid air. *Boom!*

"We're an easy target!" Shepard realizes that if they stood together out in the open for much longer, they'ed be wiped out in one second. To hit the geth from both sides, the three must move out in different directions "Split up!"

Ash and Liara move out while the commander stays back to deal with the destroyer that tried to counter attack them.

Liara lifts the hiding geth trooper from behind the M-44 into the air with her biotics and shoots the defenseless geth with her weapon.

As Shepard charges at the destroyer that's taking cover behind the crates, he swoops in to it's side and shoots at it, breaking down it's barrier. But before he can finish it off, the geth destroyer pulls out it's omni-shield as a back up defense plan. He throws out a grenade he equipped with him at the geth. Before it had the moment to react... *KABOOM!* the blast knocks over the geth and deactivates it's omni-shield. Shepard then pulls out his _soldier __omni-blade_ right away and charges. "Uagh!" *KSHINK!* with so much strength, he impales the destroyer through the chest area, ripping right through it's armor plating and deactivating the platform for good.

"Commander, you've got a ship of Geth construction heading your way!" says Joker through Shepard's comm.

A large, grub-like spaceship (a Geth dropship) swoops above the battlefield. Dropping out were two _geth juggernauts_ and, to make things worse, a dark grey _geth colossus_. *SHABOOM!* The colossus makes a loud hard crash once it is dispatched on the surface. {*_KEEHERRRGH!_*} the quadrupedal geth mech grumbles as it stands up and it's systems go online. Like all the other geth, its white eye light turns into an intense red color, and a triangular chip piece drops down between it's light and it's armor, giving it the evil eye kind of look.

"Where the hell are these things coming from!?" yelled Ashley.

Plasma shots hit her shields. Ashley turns around to see the shock trooper geth aiming at the two girls. It deploys a helix shield to protect itself from the incoming bullets. *Kaboom!* a missile knocks the two off their heals. The last geth destroyer has taken refuge inside the downed shuttle. Shepard rushes over to help his teammates, avoiding a siege pulse explosion from the colossus. *BOOM!*

Liara blows the helix shield off the ground with her biotics and fires at the shock trooper. A perfectly place round hits the geth's eye light, blasting it off and the shock trooper platform falls lifeless.

*Boom!* The destroyer's missile strikes the commander's shields, bring it down. "My shields are out!" he shouted.

The two squad mates try to shoot it down, but it takes cover again. The three run up the hill to the shuttle, but the destroyer has disappeared from sight.

From behind at the corner of his right ear, Shepard hears foot steps running over to them, getting closer, and the sound of an omni-blade being pulled out is heard.

With immediate instinct taking over, he swiftly turns around with his own omni-blade out. One millisecond at first, it seemed like there was nothing, until... *KIRSHEE!* his omni-blade makes contact with a single violet omni-blade, and decloaking one of the geth hunters that has flanked Shepard from behind. "Errhgh!" he uses a much force he can to keep the geth's omni-blade at bay from him.

"G-Go!" he demanded to his teammates. With out asking questions or assisting the commander, they obey his order and move on without him. He will stay there to hold the geth hunter off.

With out warning, the hunter lifts up its right leg and kicks Shepard on the stomach, forcing him to be knocked over and roll down the steep ledge.

As Liara and Ashley run from the shuttle's crash site, the last destroyer fires another missile from behind an outcrop. They dodge it, and proceed to shoot it. It's shields go out, so it uses it's backup omni-shield to block their gun shots. When the geth sticks out it's ML-77 missile launcher, Liara's boitic powers swoosh the gun out of it's hands, causing it to loose control of it's omni-shield and open for an attack. Ashley pulls out her _N7-Crusader shotgun_ and fiercely blasts the geth destroyer through it's torso. White circulation fluid spews out from the damaged destroyer unit as the lieutenant shoot is down.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

"Urgh... Ahgh!" Shepard grunts as he get back up onto his feet. Looking back at the M-44 and the alien pod, he can see the two geth juggernauts are already scanning the pod through their omni-tools. The colossus still stands in it's landing spot.

He pulls out his _M-3 Predator_ heavy pistol and attempts to get the geth's attention by putting a single shot behind one of the juggernauts, in not wanting to risk damaging the alien pod with too much fire power. The round hits the geth's shielding.

{*_TRGRRII-GRRUGH!_*} The juggernaut units' synthetic cords make a staticy grumble as their attention is turn to the commander. Their demonic eye lights switch on.

One of them fires a distortion rocket at Shepard. But he was able to escape from it in the nick of time. He attacks the two geth units with his _M-8 Avenger_, but he finds out the shielding of these things are so high, more advanced than ever.

The colossus stands in a firing position and ejects a huge blue ball scorching plasma energy at Shepard. "BOOSHM!* It misses the commander, but it did break down one of the juggernaut's shields. Shepard fires at the juggernaut, but it instantly pulls out it's unbreakable omni-shield in time. Shepard is starting to hate this new ability the geth he's fighting right now can do.

The second juggernaut blows the commander's shields with its heavy plasma shotgun. With only one more grenade left, he pull it out and throws it to the one that has shot his shields down. *Boom!* The explosion stuns the geth unit. Shepard was able to destroy the geth juggernaut now that its shields have been disrupted by the last grenade. But he still has to deal with the last juggernaut and the colossus.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

Back with Ash and Liara, the two stand back to back, ready to shoot at any geth that comes to view. What they don't realize is the two geth hunters have cloaked themselves to be undetected to the naked eye. With so much stealth, one of the hunters has sneaked up to their sides. The sound of it's omni-blade teases the corner of their ears. The two girls react just in time. *Bish!* the omni-blade disrupts Ashley's shields, decloaking the geth hunter as it strikes. A boitic wave by Liara throws the hunter back. But it was able to get it's tactical cloak back online just before the two girls can attack it more.

The second geth hunter decloaks itself, standing right behind the unwary Ash and Liara. It shoots it's plasma shotgun at the asari, destroying her shields. It hits her again, leaving large burns on her Shadow Broker outfit. Ashley fires at it, disrupting it's own shields but was able to go back to invisible mode again while leaping out of the incoming gun shots.

"You can't hide forever you bastards!" Lt. Williams cursed at the now invisible geth hunters.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

The last geth juggernaut shoot's it's shotgun at the knocked over supply crates where Shepard is taking cover. He regrets having to let his team go off on their own, but right now, he has no choice. He peaks out with his Avenger in hand and shoots at the juggernaut, but at this exact time, the colossus was able to get a clear shot at him and fires a siege pulse at the crate. Shepard sees it coming and makes a run for it. *BOOSHM!*

See Shepard fleeing from cover, the colossus positions it's front end in a downwards position, readying itself to jump. *Vooom!* It leaps high into the air. Shepard has looked back to see it coming straight at him in the sky.

*KBOSHOOOOOM!* It lands with a big impact. The shock wave from behind knocks him into the air completely. The colossus has an easy target now. It positions itself to fire again. But this time, instead of a siege pulse beam, it's red light fills with electric charges and an intense beam of light. Shepard knew what was about to happen. He rolls out of the way. *VIREEEVROOM!* Firing out of the colossus was a laser beam that followed Shepard, but it misses him. This geth colossus unit has a built in laser canon!

As the colossus turns around to try execute him again, a large cloud of pinkish gasses spew out a steam geyser next to the colossus's right. That attracts both of their attentions to it, because rising out of the crater this time wasn't just a clouds of noxious gasses.

A serpent like figure emerges from the crater. It was dark cyan in color, but has a lavender underbelly. The snake figure also has a set of four small pointed forelimbs. It's head has no eyes, but it still knows exactly where the colossus is at. Steaming out of it's beak like mouth was a trail of the same kind of noxious pinkish gasses. This serpent-like creature is a 'C_rater Viper_'.

*OURAGHOOHM!* The crater viper bellows a loud roar just before it open's its jaws again going for the colossus. It clamps onto the colossus's shoulder area. Shepard watches as the crater viper lifts the large geth platform into the air and tosses it against an outcrop causing it to explode. *KABOOM!*

Shepard is surprised how much power this creature has to defeat the geth colossus. It turns it's head down to Shepard. He dashes straight back to the camp site and the Hammerhead. The viper attacks again, but this time, it get's a mouth full of moon rock from the ground instead of the commander.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

A geth hunter shoots it's plasma shotgun at Shepard's two companions. Liara tosses it back with her biotics. The other hunter decloaks beside the knocked over geth. But just as it was about to fire, a crater viper erupts from the gas clouds from the crater behind the two geth.

It screeches as it dives down, grabbing the standing geth in its maw.

"Run!" Liara grabs Ash's right hand and the pair makes a break for it, back to the downed shuttle and the Hammerhead.

The remaining geth hunter struggles to get back up. Suddenly, another crater viper erupts from the clouds of another crater. It grabs the geth in it's mouth, and brings itself with the hunter platform back down into it's crater.

*Blurrgh!* The viper that devoured the first geth hunter regurgitates it out of the crater. The synthetic was simply to indigestible for the creature to handle, and the creature is '_not_' the crater viper itself. Still, the hunter unit is destroyed by the viper.

**. . . . . . . . . . . .**

The juggernaut back at the camp site tries to hold off two other vipers. But a sudden swing of one of a forearm slices through its shields and the machine, killing it instantly. *Swoosh!*

Shepard and his two companions regroup together. Surrounding the camp was a pack of crater vipers focused on the trio. It now makes sense to Shepard. These were the creatures that wrecked the camp and consumed everyone but Lt. Jackson's bottom half.

Crater vipers are normally solitary animals. It's very unusual to find them cooperating together in packs like this.

Shepard contacts the Normandy. "Joker! Lock onto our signal and bring out reinforcements! We've got the pod and we are requesting back up, pronto!"

"Roger that Commander. Locking in to your signal and coming your way. ETA, three minutes."

*OURAGHOUM!* A crater viper roars out and attacks the trio. Shepard shots it's mouth where it is most vulnerable. It worked, the viper back up and shakes in pain. The other crater vipers zoom in. Shepard and his squad take aim and fire into their mouths. When one gets too close and nearly snaps at Liara, she shoots it's underbelly, and the way how the creature reacted by the shots, she realized their underbellies were also their target zones.

"Hit them from underneath! They are most vulnerable there to!" the asari shouted out.

"I can see that!" Shepard replied.

The three move out. But they have become separated, a tactic crater vipers use to catch easy prey.

*Swoosh!* A forelimb nearly dices the commander. He duck down to avoid it and puts his gun up, firing his crusader shotgun at will on the soft scaly underbelly of the viper. It shrieks in pain and retreats back into it's crater.

One crater viper circles around Liara readying itself to coil around her. Just as it is about to eat her from above... *SHWOMB!* a biotic blast forcefully hits the inside of it's mouth. She escapes from the viper that has almost coiled around her. Another tries to crush her with it's pointed maw... *BANG!* but it misses the asari just by a foot away.

Ashley fends off one viper in front of her. Another roars at her from behind. *HISSOURAH!* She turns to face the second crater viper, immediately taking out her shotgun and puts a dozen rounds on it's head. All that seemed to do however, was make it even more aggressive. *HIHURROGH!* It nearly clamps it's jaws on the lieutenant. Fleeing from the viper's bite, Ash looks back and continues shooting at the viper's head. Full of pain, the crater viper eventually retreats back into its crater with a head full of bullet holes and bleeding out green blood.

After fending off one viper from his left, Shepard attempts to run back to the Hammerhead, but when he started to run, a crater viper has popped from the nearest crater behind him. It lunges forward at the unwary commander. *OURAGHOM!* Just when he hears the roar behind him at the last minute... *Snatch!* It catches Shepard between it's lower pair of forearms and carries him up into the air making an eerie screech of triumph.

"Oh!" Shepard looses his grip on his avenger the second he gets grasped by the viper.

"Shepard!" Ashley exclaims. Fear and anxiety rushes through her mind, no knowing what to do now. Then, after three second, she spots an ML-77 Missile Launcher dropped from the geth destroyer the Hammerhead took down. With out further hesitation, she dashes for it.

*HIMGRRGH!* A viper strikes out from her left, but she was too fast for it.

Ashley snatches the missile launcher in hand. She points the weapon up into the air at Shepard's captor. The viper was looking down at the helpless commander in it's grasp, ready to devour him alive.

With out steady aim, the lieutenant pulls the trigger of the missile launcher. *POW!* The missile is shot out. The crater viper opens its maw at the commander. But just before it can successfully eat him... *OURAGHOO-!*-*KABOOM!* The missile hits directly inside the viper's mouth. It blows up the top jaw, exploding it into a fountain of greenish meat and blood.

Shepard falls out of the creature's grip. He would have hit the ground and loose his life, if it weren't for Liara's biotics to delay his impact. *VORWOOM!*

"Omph!" The commander lands unharmed after being lifted by the asari's boitics. The viper on the other hand collapses dead just a few feet away from Shepard with a mutilated head. *KABANG!*

Liara and Ashley rushes over to help Shepard up. "Shepard. Are you alright?" the asari asked.

"I'm fine." he replies quickly.

*EERRAHHGHH!* All of the crater vipers let out a screech and fall back into their craters. The body of the one Ashley killed suddenly begins to slide back into it's geyser as well even though it's dead.

Shepard and his team seems to be clear of the threat for the moment. Then they hear a very loud hiss of steaming gasses. Turning to the far end of the horizon, about 190 meters behind the tunnel entrance, they see a large cloud of pink toxic gasses surrounding what looks like a giant boulder. But then, at the next moment, it slowly moves straight upwards. On the top middle of the boulder is a hole with striping patterns extending out of the sides and a single green cyclops eye with a pair of eyelids open up from there. Below it, a gigantic mouth of big grinding teeth bares out. The situation is worse than anyone ever expected. Staring at the trio is a '_Crater Viper Slag Monster Mutant_'.

As the creature begins to growl, four arms with four digits on each one emerge from both sides of it. But the digits weren't fingers, they were the crater vipers Shepard, Ashley and Liara just dealt with. On the second to the right joint of the lowest right arm was the viper Ashley killed limping down lifelessly. On the first to the left digit on the top left hand was the other that has bullet wounds all over it's head by Ash's shotgun. This immense indigenous predator uses its crater viper figures to hunt prey for it as it remains camouflaged at it's stationary spot. The crater vipers share the same stomach as the slag monster, and it could not digest every synthetic materials it consumes, the reason why the vipers had to regurgitate the geth platforms they ate for it.

*BORAGHOOUUHHMMM!* The slag monster bellows loudly that echos out for miles, followed by the high pitched shrieks of the vipers.

Staring at the colossal creature in horror, their focus cuts off when Joker's voice comes through the comm. "Approaching your rendevu point now Commander. Help is underway." The trio look up to see the SSV Normandy coming in from the sky and down to their location.

The slag monster sees it to. It brings its crater viper hands to the ship, the creature will attack anything it catches in sight, even things that are bigger than its own size.

The Normandy's shuttle hatch opens. Shepard and his teammates run for it. The crater vipers were right on their tails. Garrus, James, Tali, Javik and Cortez keep the vipers at bay from them as Shepard's team makes it back inside. The commander knows he's got to get back out there and retrieve that alien pod. There's no way he will be aborting this mission. The only problem is, the Hammerhead is not operational because of the electric pulse the geth shock trooper shot out.

"We need to get that pod out of there and back into the ship." he breathlessly spoke out. "Tali, you get the Hammerhead up and running again. I'll cover you." he gives an order to his wife, who was the only engineer of the squad who can get the M-44's systems back online.

"On it." she replied. Both Shepard and Tali run back to the M-44 to get it working again.

"The rest of you, cover us!" Shepard ordered the rest of his team.

"Hey! Just like the old times Loco!" Vega responds to Shepard's demand.

The pair rushes over to the Hammerhead. The rest of Shepard's team stays behind with in the Normandy, to keep the vipers away from the pair and themselves. The crater vipers kept themselves busy, distracted as the team open fires at their heads and bellies.

Tali opens a circuit cap on the side of the M-44. She pulls out her omni-tool and works away, trying to bring power back to the hovercraft. Shepard keeps the oncoming vipers that have noticed the two away from his quarian wife. Tali desperately tries harder to bring that M-44 back online.

Panic boxes around the pair, fearing they won't last out here in the open for much longer. But after several seconds, the Hammerhead gets a sudden power boost. It's engines power up and the hovercrafts levitates off the ground.

{Systems back online.} the M-44 comes back to power.

"Get in!" Shepard demanded to Tali. The two hop inside just in time. The hatch closes shut.

*OUAAGHEROUGH!* The slag monster roars in rage. Toxic fume clouds spew out of it's enormous mouth.

Shepard starts the Hammerhead, and pulls the alien pod with it.

"Cortez! Get ready to secure the hatch!" Shepard contacts Steve Cortez on the comm.

"Copy that sir!" he copied. With enough applied speed, the Hammerhead safely excavates the pod onto the Normandy's shuttle bay. The hatch closes shut by Steve. A viper gets caught in between, but escapes before the hanger doors can close all the way and before it can get decapitated.

The crater vipers keep attacking, viciously gnarling and clawing the ship's hull. Joker bounces on his pilot's seat as the vipers strike again and again around the nose end of the Normandy.

Knowing the slag monster itself was a a far enough distance from the Normandy, Shepard gives Joker a new order. "Joker, load the ship's main weapons and take that bastard down!"

"You got it Commander!" He loads up the ship's main weapon: the _Thanix Magnetic-Hydrodynamic Cannon_. A weapon so powerful, it's strong enough to rip apart something as big as a Collector cruiser. "Everyone hold on to your hats. This is gonna get rough!"

The cannons are dispatched below the bridge.

"Why don't you and your Medusa bastards chew on this instead!" The pilot slams a fist on the control panel.

The thanix cannons light up, and a beam of superheated molten metal streams out at high velocities.

Angle View 1: *KASHBOOM!*  
Angle View 2: *KASHBOOM!*  
Angle View 3: *KASHBOOM!* The beam hits the slag monster, exploding it into nothing more than a fountain of meat. The four hands become separated and every last living crater viper is dead. With out the slag monster, the viper fingers die with it. The dust and rubble clears out, revealing a large hole where the creature once stood. The force of the beam was enough to pierce through the hollow mountain.

"Wohoo! Killed it Commander!" Joker comes through Shepard's comm.

"Copy that Joker. Get the Normandy to FTL. I've had enough of this planetoid."

"Aye aye sir" Joker flies the Normandy away from the camp site, leaves the moon atmosphere, and out into space.

This mission became a huge success. The alien pod that has escape the metarex attack is safely intact within the ship, after all these years laying underneath the uncharted world, undisturbed.


End file.
